Officials: Texas boy, 5, accidentally killed by handgun

Associated Press

Published 2:15 pm, Monday, October 21, 2013

VIDOR — Authorities in Southeast Texas say a 5-year-old boy has been found dead by what appears to be an accidental gunshot.

Orange County Chief Deputy Sheriff Clint Hodgkinson said Monday that a babysitter called authorities Monday afternoon in Vidor, about 90 miles east of Houston. The babysitter told authorities that the boy was in another room of a home when a noise rang out.

There was no phone in the home, so the babysitter carried the child to his grandparents' home, where authorities were called.

Hodgkinson said the boy appears to have accidentally fired a handgun. He said he didn't know how the boy got access to the gun.

Authorities are treating the case as an accident as they continue to investigate.